


Fractures of a Soul

by artemis_gaunt



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-06-18 17:54:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15491427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artemis_gaunt/pseuds/artemis_gaunt
Summary: How different would the lives of Harry Potter and all those around him be if he had met someone before Ronald Weasley on the Hogwarts Express? Someone who shared similar turmoil for the past decade? Somone who could talk to snakes? Warnings for future chapters as their will be child manipulation, character deaths, major AU changes. Dark!Harry Evil!Dumbledore.





	1. The Hogwarts Express

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I hope you all enjoy my first Harry Potter fic. I'm using this as a creative outlet so I can keep focusing on my studies. Hopefully you, the reader, will enjoy this side project of mine and will want to keep reading it. This is my own interpretation of these characters, and I, of course, own none of them.
> 
> Please Enjoy!

"-You won't believe it, mum! It was Harry Potter!"

Harry shrunk back from the window, not wanting to hear anything else as a blush rose to his cheeks. He could feel his face burning as he noticed more people looking into his carriage, but none seemed to want to come in. Ever since he had learned about his true past, only mere weeks ago, Harry still struggled with the idea that everyone knew his name. He wasn't sure what people were expecting to see when they looked at him, although he was sure it wasn't the scrawny, too thin, too pale boy that had been thrust in front of them.

Harry bit the inside of his cheek as he looked back out of the window, the red-headed woman was waving, as were most parents. Harry couldn't help the small pang of jealousy he felt coil in his stomach before it was swiftly replaced by sadness that his own parents had never been given the chance to wave him off. Perhaps, he thought bitterly, that he would have been more prepared, more equipped to be this so-called famous wizard he was supposed to be today if he had been raised in this world. Surely his parents had friends that could have taken him in, rather than leaving him with his Aunt and Uncle, who would sooner be seen kissing a frog than seen with Harry when they had dropped him off at the station this morning.

His bitter angriness was soon replaced with a small pang of fear and nervousness when the door opened, his head turning to the door where he saw a small girl standing there. "Hullo…" She said shyly. "Do you mind if I sit with you? Everywhere else is filling up fast." Harry shook his head as he watched her smile kindly at him, closing the door behind herself as she came to sit down.

The girl was small, obviously she was a first year too, however, she was a good inch shorter than Harry, and Harry could have made a comfortable guess that he would have been in the shorter end of the year as well. She was very pale, Harry thought he would never have met someone who was still breathing with that kind of coloured skin. Her eyes were large, cool, icy blue that perhaps would have made someone a little terrified to look at if they weren't obstructed by the mad mass of tight curls that fell from her head in a dark brown, bordering black, ringlets that fell to her mid back. With her high cheekbones and her full lips pulled into a smile, Harry could have sworn she was a doll that had come to life.

"Thank you... I'm Nathaira, but you're welcome to call me Nai if you'd like." She said with a smile. "What's your name?"

Harry blinked at the question, surely everyone must know by now that he was on the train… Of course, he soon realised that there must have been others like him, as in, those who came from the muggle world. He quickly felt a little better about not being at so much of a disadvantage before realising that she was still waiting for him to answer. "Oh, I'm Harry, nice to meet you." He said politely with a smile. "Have you known you are a witch for long?" He asked, hoping it didn't come across as something impolite to ask, he never thought of Wizard etiquette before.

"Oh, no. Not long at all. I had a professor show up a couple of weeks ago at... At my, home." Nai said after a moment of pause, Harry, of course, noticed it, but it was clear she didn't want to talk any more about it, so he didn't press. Harry knew he wouldn't really want to talk about his home life as well. "How about you?" She asked.

Harry shook his head. "No, it's been the same for me as well, I had this man, well… More than a man, he must be part giant! Show up and take me to get all of my school things." He said with a grin, so far, it had been the best time of his whole life. Nathairas eyes widened at the mention of a man who looked like he was a giant.

"Wow! I had a professor, he was a bit scary at first, I didn't believe I was a witch at first, I mean, strange things had always been happening to me, and I just thought I was… Well, a freak." She ended, mumbling to herself. Harry could understand though, Petunia and Vernon made him feel the same way, even going so far as to abuse him his whole life, just for being something he had no control over.

"I know how you feel… I had all sorts of strange stuff happening to me. I set a boa on my cousin accidentally a month ago." Harry grinned, with his punishment behind him, and no Dursley around to overhear him, the memory and the feeling he had when he had done it, brought a smile and a small giggle to his lips as Nathaira looked elated.

"I used to make friends with the snakes in the back garden! They'd always come out in the summer to these rocks where it would be sunny all day, and I used to talk with them all day, they were good friends." Nathaira said with a smile, she was sad to be going from her slithery friends, and had even been a little disappointed at the limited variety of pets one could bring to Hogwarts. Harry smiled, he wished there had been snakes to talk to when he had been gardening all those years in the summer, it would have been good to have a companion, but perhaps he could buy one himself, at least a snake would be easier to conceal from the Dursleys than Hedwig was, although, Hedwig had given Dudley a right pecking when he had tried to stick his chubby fingers through the cage to taunt her.

"Are your parents normal then? Er, that is, muggles, I think that's what Hagrid called them." Harry asked, although he feared it may have been the wrong question, Nathaira looked down at her lap, fiddling with her fingers.

"I… I don't actually know, my parents left me at an old orphanage," Nathaira said quietly, ashamed. "I was found and put into a foster system, I've been through a few families, and they say it's likely I won't be adopted now I'm almost a teenager." Harry instantly felt bad for asking the question. Sure, he lived with the Dursleys, but at least that had always been constant, one roof over his head, although he was sure they'd like to get rid of him as well. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be upset, I'm used to it now." She said with a small smile. "And now I have somewhere to come for most of the year, it'll be great."

Harry nodded, understanding more than most what it meant to be getting out of a bad place and going somewhere he could be independent and free. "Hey, it's alright… I lost my parents too, they…" He paused, she would find out anyway, and he didn't want her to think he was hiding anything from her. "They were killed by this dark Wizard when I was one… I didn't know until I found out I was a Wizard. I live with my mums' sister and her family, they're very normal." Nathairas eyes went wide and she nodded, understanding.

"It must have been pretty awful to find out like that." She said sympathetically. There were a lot of questions burning at her tongue, but she decided to leave it there, if Harry wasn't comfortable talking about his home life to her, it could wait, she knew there were plenty of things she didn't want to talk about right now, but if they got closer, who knows. "Have you read any of the books? I'm really excited to be learning all this… Magic!" She said with a grin, swapping her seat to sit next to him as she pulled out her potions book, brushing through the pages with Harry as they wondered in amazement at all the ingredients and what each potion could do.

~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~

"You won't believe it, mum! It was Harry Potter!" Ron Weasley exclaimed to his mother. Molly looked at the train with wide eyes, of course, how could she had not seen it. The boy had seemed so lovely and polite, she could already see him becoming a good fit for the family. Albus had made it very clear he'd be in need of some parenting, and Molly knew her family was just right for what Harry needed, she just needed to make sure that her children played their part without realising it.

"Oh, mum! I want to see Harry!" Her youngest shouted as she tried to jump, as though to look in through the windows, trying to find him.

"Stop Ginny, he's not some animal in a cage for you to gawk at," Molly said with a small huff as she hugged her eldest goodby before looking at Ron with a smile. "Now, look at you, my son Ronald all grown up." She could feel tears pricking in her eyes as her son flushed as red as his hair. "Make sure to take notes in all your classes, do your homework on time, and Ron…" She paused, making sure he was looking at her and paying attention. "Maybe speak to Harry, he was ever so polite and I can imagine he doesn't know what's going to happen. Goodness knows he won't even know much about the houses, although I'm sure he'll be a lion, just like you." Molly smiled, kissing his cheek as Ron nodded.

"Well sure, wasn't his mum and dad both Gryffindors? He saved us all from you-know-who, what other house could he be in?" Ron said with a smile, although he wiggled out of his mother's embrace, it was far too tight, and he didn't want anyone to see. "I'll owl you every week mum… I promise!" With a final goodbye, he climbed aboard the train, waving for a few moments before he felt the train beginning to pull away.

Ron pulled in to the busy corridor, kids running rampant with books, pets, toys, looking to find old friends, while Ron had to go looking for his new one. Harry Potter was the most famous wizard of all time. Ron had discovered nearly a year ago that he would be in the same class year as Harry, and he had dreamed about befriending the saviour of their world ever since. He knew he wasn't the best looking out of his family, he wasn't exciting or rebellious, he had always been picked on by his older brothers, and Ginny got a lot of attention for being a girl. He was sure she wasn't going to have to wear his old clothes.

Though Ron was no means small, his uniform positively dwarfed him. The rich black had faded to a grey through years of use. His mother had done her best to patch it up, but potion burns and roughhousing had left his robe something almost unfit to be worn another year. He thought that once he and Harry had become friends, he'd be able to look the part, Harry was rich, it was well known James Potter was very well off, and all of that would have been handed down to Harry. So long as Ron became his one and only best friend, then that fortune and his mothers' favour was as good as his.

Harry and Nathaira had been having a great time looking through their books when the door opened. The two looked up and Harry recognised the red-headed boy who had helped him through the platform. "Hey, Harry! You vanished so quick, I've been looking for you!" Ron wasn't too happy to be seeing Harry so close to another girl, but Ron was confident that their shared gender would be enough to knock out whatever companionship the girl had made in the last forty-five minutes of the train ride.

Ron shut the door behind him as he sat across from Harry, moving Nathairas bag as her books tumbled out. "Hey!" She protested, moving from her seat as she went to pick them up. Ron went about to move to steal her seat as she went to pick up her things, mumbling a half-hearted apology, before Harry also got down, helping to pick up the rest of the contents of the bag. Ron flushed red as Harry sat back up with Nai to his side, leaving Ron back to his original position.

"I'm Ron by the way, Ron Weasley." Ron put his hand out to Harry, who reluctantly shook it before pulling back, Nathaira went to introduce herself but Ron had already shoved his hands by his side as he continued to talk. "I can't wait to get sorted, my whole family was and is in Gryffindor, so I have a lot to live up too... Can't say I'd get into Ravenclaw, I'm not that brainy, although it'd be better than Hufflepuff, but, nothing is as bad as Slytherin, you know? Do you think you'll want to get into Gryffindor as well Harry? Isn't that the house your parents were in too?"

Harry and Nathaira looked to each other with confused glances, whatever gibberish the red-headed boy was talking about, neither of them knew what it was he was trying to say. "Sorry, I don't understand?" Harry said, not wanting to be rude, but at the same time, he had just been perfectly happy to talk with Nai about wizardry, it was nice to talk to someone who knew about as much as he did, all Ron's questioning made him feel nervous and sad that people seemed to know more about his parents than he did.

"Your houses! When we get to Hogwarts we'll be sorted into one of four houses. It's like a competition each year, you get points for school works and whatever, and there's a winner each year. I don't know how we get sorted though, my brothers never really spoke about it." Ron said with a small shrug of his shoulders as though it was an effort to talk through it. "There's four, all named after the founders of Hogwarts. Gryffindor is the best, it's for people who are brave and loyal. Ravenclaw is where all the brainy kids go. Hufflepuffs are just kind of there, a whole bunch of softies really, but Slytherin is filled with slimy gits. The whole lot of them are evil." Ron said, scrunching his nose. "You-Know-Who was a Slytherin, and he was the worst."

Nathaira frowned. "Seems kind of wrong to generalise a whole group like that… I'm sure not everyone from one house turns out evil and the others are all good. Seems pretty stupid that something can tell if an eleven-year-old is evil or not." Harry nodded, agreeing with her. He had faced a lifetime of being branded a freak, and yet, he had turned out to be just as ordinary in this world as the next person.

"But his whole family were Gryffindors, I'm sure he'll want to see how his family grew up," Ron said with a shrug.

Harry sat there, looking a little put out, unsure of how he should be feeling, all things considered. "I don't really know that much about my family, I'm sure I could learn about them no matter what house I end up in." Harry reasoned. He didn't need another reason to feel guilty over something that was out of his control, namely, his family.

Thankfully Ron was spared digging the hole he was in further when the trolley lady came past, offering sweets and snacks. Harry and Nathaira looked over at the trolley in amazement. Harry had never had enough money to afford any type of sweet, and everything looked so amazing. Nathaira had a few sickles on her, Hogwarts had provided her with a small trust that they had for all students who were muggleborn and orphaned. She had been the first in a while, and she had saved the little change she had left over from her supplies, considering that she had bought a lot of her things second hand, only her wand had been fully and completely her own, her most treasured possession now.

Nathaira was about to by a chocolate frog when Harry had told her to put her sickles away. He asked for several of each candy as he paid the trolley lady a couple of galleons. Nathaira thanked Harry with a small blush as she helped him carry the sweets to their seat. Harry enjoyed being able to by a friend something, even if it was something as trivial as a sweet. Ron started to go on about the different types of candies, taking some from the chair as he obviously ate them, thinking Harry had meant to share them with him as well. Harry wasn't about to deny anyone food, although Ron was starting to annoy him a little. He opened a frog, splitting it with Nai as they looked to the card, Ron droning on about his card collection.

~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~

As the train continued on, the sun sunk lower into the hillside as the sky darkened. Nathaira had kicked the boys out of the compartment as she changed, before waiting for the two of them to get changed, leaving all of them in black robes with the Hogwarts crest, waiting to be changed when they had been sorted. Soon after, the train had pulled to a stop at the last station, all of them getting off the train as the first years were called over by Hagrid.

"'Ello Harry! Glad tah see yah made it!" Hagrid said cheerfully as Harry smiled, Nathaira looking up at Hagrid with wide eyes and a huge grin, excitedly nudging Harry. Hagrid led them to boats, all bobbing along the dock on top of the darkest water Harry had ever seen. Each boat could hold five, and Harry spotted a boat with only three people in it, pulling Nathaira along with him so they could finally lose Ron. Grinning, the pair climbed onto the boat where a boy with white-blond hair and two who looked like they were half gorilla were sitting, looking out bored.

"Hello." Harry and Nathaira said politely to the three. A quick glance at Harry's bangs and the blond had become all smiles.

"So the rumours were true… Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts." The blond said. The two boys behind him looked to each other, making some sort of gawfing sound. "Ignore them," Blondy said with a shake of his head, his shoulders falling as he became less formal, and more normal, to the other pair at least. "I'm pretty sure their half troll." He whispered, winking at Nathaira as she snorted. "I'm Draco Malfoy."

"Well, I guess you already know my name," Harry said, if not a little dryly, shaking the others hand. He was happy to see, however, that he did not ignore Nathaira, shaking her hand as well.

"It's hard to miss the scar," Draco said with a small shrug, looking to it once again. "You have to understand, we've been hearing your name for our whole lives, it's good to put a face to a name." Harry could understand that a little better, and it was nicer than having to hear his own story retold by a stranger again, having had to continually remind Ron that he didn't actually remember anything from that night when he had started to ask questions. "I don't know a Nathaira though, unusual name, what's your last? I don't think we've met before, which is something as I'm sure my mother has had every magical family in Britain over to the manor at some point… Well, anyone who's important at least." Draco said as he offered a small sniff in the direction of Ron, who was looking on from another boat as they took off, he was sitting next to a girl with wild bushy hair, seeming to be chattering non-stop.

Nathaira shifted a little uncomfortable. "I.. I don't know my real last name. I'm entered as a Smith in the system. My parents only left my first name on a note." She finished awkwardly. Harry stretched his fingers to gently overlap hers, a motion that had not gone unnoticed by the young Malfoy. Usually the idea of sitting next to someone who could potentially be a mudblood would have grossed him out, at the very least, he might have said something rather rude, but Harry Potter seemed friendly and interested in the girl, and so he would have to be as well, at least, for the meantime.

"Ah… I've read about rituals that can tell you your bloodline, they're complicated and need a lot of practice and potions, but maybe we can find out." Draco offered. "My godfather is the potions master, I'm sure if I asked, he could get us what we needed." His tone moved from helpful to boasting in a manner of seconds, but to Harry, it was far better than the annoyed tone that Ron had come out with when Harry said he didn't know what Quidditch was.

Nathaira was elated at the possibility, nodding excitedly. "That would be…. Everything, thank you." She didn't know why he would do something like this for her, but she would take any chance she got to discover her parentage. Draco nodded once as he turned to look at the castle that was slowly coming into view.

Lucius Malfoy had been very clear about what he required of his son and heir. Harry Potter was valuable. If the Dark Lord truly was dead, then Harry Potter was a door opener to all those in power who wanted to get to know their saviour better, but, in the of the chance the Dark Lord returned… Lucius wanted to be sure that the boy was in their grasp, and he would gain the favours of those who he knew weren't all too pleased that he was out of Azkaban, living in luxury, while those like his sister-in-law had rotted for the past ten years. Of course, he hadn't bothered his eleven-year-old with this semantics, only the promise of fame and connection should he befriend the boy.

Harry and Nathaira continued to watch in awe as the castle came into view, the stars slowly slipping behind the silhouette of the massive castle and for once, the pair of them felt hopeful at the idea of having a new home.

—


	2. The Sorting Ceremony

'Oohs' and 'Ahs' were exchanged by the first years as they climbed the steps to the castle, after meeting a tall, thin woman who had instructed them to wait in a chamber beside the great hall, nerves were starting to bubble as an eerie quiet took a hold of all of them as Professor McGonagall left them for a few moments. No one was really quite sure how to break the awkward silence, even the girl who had been chattering in Ron's boat non-stop had nothing to say as they shifted nervously.

"Harry!"

Of course, Ron had successfully been able to cut through the tension of the room without so much of a thought as the boy to his left jumped nervously out of his skin. Harry also twitched nervously as the silence was soon filled with quiet muttering, and Harry couldn't shake off the feeling of several pairs of eyes all suddenly on him, the room becoming a little too tight. Nathaira stood next to one side while Draco took the other, Crabbe and Goyle, as he had asked Draco what their names were, muscled behind him as the two seemed deeply engrossed in what the feast would be like.

The redhead broke through the crowd, looking at Harry with a grin before his face soured slightly at the sight of Draco. "Hey, Harry! I thought I'd lost you."

"Yeah, us too." Mumbled Nathaira, earning a chuckle from Draco as Harry tried not to laugh. Ron looked slightly annoyed at Nathaira as his ears flushed pink. Draco found it rather amusing that the Weasley boy was trying so hard, and yet, still hadn't figured out what game he needed to be playing.

"Sorry Ron, we just found a boat that needed filling, we thought you were behind us." Harry said diplomatically, he didn't need any more stress at this point, he just wanted to move past the sorting, and relax a little, the anticipation alone was causing his stomach to tighten uncomfortably.

"Yeah, er- No worries mate." Ron said, shaking his head. "Anyway, I thought you'd like to come stand by me, my brothers told me all about the sorting ceremony, Fred said something about a troll-"

"I didn't know your mother would be making an appearance Weasley, though I suppose, if my family were that poor, my mother would do anything for a couple of sickles." Draco sneered. Nathaira bit her lip as her eyes went wide, trying to hold back a laugh. "You see Harry," Draco stressed, looking to Harry who looked to be both slightly amused and embarrassed for Ron at the same time. "You'll see that some Wizards, are just better than others."

Ron let out a small snarl as he went for his wand, only to have McGonagall show up, clearing her throat as Ron lowered his hand from his sleeve, glaring furiously at Draco as he stepped to the side. "If you'll all follow me, we're ready for you." McGonagall declared. Slowly they filed down the hall in lines, the words, for the time being, were forgotten as some believed Ron, waiting to see if a troll would indeed come out.

Harry and Nathaira tried to stand on their toes so they could see what was waiting for them at the front of the line. They were surprised to see a grubby old hat, the two of them sharing a look before a seam split wide in its side, and it began to sing. The first years stared in shock at the song, applauding randomly as McGonagall instructed them to come up as they were called. First up was a boy named Anthony Goldstein, the hat flopped over the boys head and half of his face as it sat quietly for a minute, only for it to roar out "RAVENCLAW!" A few moments later. The table to his right cheered loudly as the boy, looking very relieved, made his way down to the table.

Three names later and Draco was called up. The hat had hardly touched a hair on his head before it shouted out. "SLYTHERIN!" Draco looked very smug indeed as the table to Harry's far left cheered, a quick glance up at the teacher's table showed that there was little surprise for the hat's choice. Scanning along the table, Harry saw teachers of all ages, shapes and sizes filling the large table. In the middle sat an old, bearded man, who had looked to him at the same time. Something deep inside of Harry squirmed under the intense stare, however, the old man smiled and nodded softly before his attention returned to the sorting.

Another three names were called before Harry was called up. Nathaira smiled at him softly as Harry heard the room fall silent, not that it had been loud before, but now, he was sure he could have heard a pin drop from the other side. As he began to walk up, the murmuring started as he heard people talking about him. His face blushed as he wrung his hands nervously, sitting on the stool. What if he wasn't good enough? What if the Hat said that they had made a mistake, and he wasn't good enough? Slowly the hat sat down over his head, and the room went quiet.

_**Harry Potter. What a mind you have here boy…** _

Harry's eyes widened as he heard the voice in his head, looking around slowly. _ **How… What are you?**_ Harry thought.

_**I am old**_ , the Hat chuckled. _**I was created by the four greatest minds of their age, a little bit of their magic rests with me, allows me to see where each child can flourish. You boy, are a tricky one, I have never seen a mind like yours before**_. Harry slumped slightly, a little dismayed. _**No no boy, it is not a bad thing, and I indeed will sort you, I can't see the future, but I can sense magic, and you and your sister will do very well here.**_

_**But I don't have a sister…**_ Harry thought, confused.

_**Not of blood, no, but it is not my place to say… However, we had better wrap things up, I'll leave you to your house Mr Potter, good luck...**_ "SLYTHERIN!"

Harry felt the hat lift from his head. The sound of scattered applause hit him, mostly coming from Nathaira and other first years from muggle born families before she too looked around in confusion as most people stared in shock. Draco applauded from his table, and as if by his lead, several other students began to applaud as well. Harry, feeling incredibly self-conscious, made his way off of the stool, and over to the table as he sat beside Draco, looking up to the head table.

A man with greasy hair who sat beside Quirrell the teacher he had met in Diagon Alley, looked as though all the life had drained from his face, shock was clearly etched, the same could be said for Quirrell, although his face was not so severe. Hagrid stared, open-mouthed, a small, plump witch smiled next to an even tinier man who applauded politely. Dumbledore was leaned back in his chair, his hands templed under his chin as he seemed to be thinking things over, his blue eyes looking a lot less twinkly.

The sorting resumed, Harry waiting through several sortings until Nathaira was called up. Harry watched, biting his lip as he waited nervously, although, much like Draco, the hat seemed only to touch the tip of her hair before it declared, "SLYTHERIN!" The table cheered, although it was clear a little less heartily as it had for the other students, and Nathaira made her way over, one of the other boys moving out of the way so she could sit next to Harry at his request. The rest of the sorting finished, with Ron sorted into Gryffindor, sitting next to the bushy haired girl miserably.

Dumbledore closed off the sorting ceremony with a few reminders, before starting the feast with a wave of his hand. The first years all looked on in amazement as the plates in front of them filled, and everyone began eating. Harry had never seen so much food in his life and was honestly unsure of where to start. Looking to Nathaira, she too seemed to be at a loss, before she started to fill her plate up with roasted beef.

"Harry, Nathaira, let me introduce you to everyone." Draco said after several minutes, having finished with his first plate. "Crabbe and Goyle you know, but this is Pansy Parkinson, Daphne Greengrass, Millicent Bulstrode and Theodore Nott. Everyone, else, this is Harry Potter and Nathaira Smith."

Harry smiled at everyone with a small nod. "Smith? Not exactly a pureblood name." The girl named Pansy sniffed, looking down her nose at Nathaira. Harry winced, wondering if family was all that mattered to these people. Was he a pureblood? He didn't really know.

"I don't know who my parents are, I was never given a last name when I was abandoned." Nathaira shot back, her cheeks flushing a little in annoyance as she glared sharply at the other girl, who flinched slightly at the sight.

"Of course she's not a mudblood Pansy," Draco said coolly, defusing the situation before any of the older Slytherins caught on. "The sorting hat wouldn't have been so stupid as to place one of them in Slytherin." A couple of the other boys nodded along with Draco, and the consensus was to let it lie if that's what he wanted. Pansy just grunted softly and went back to her food. Harry reached under the table to Nathairas hand, holding over the top of her fist until she unclenched it, looking at him with a small smile.

"So, Potter. Where have you been all these years?" A boy, Harry remembered his name was Blaise, asked him. It didn't seem all too malicious, and naturally, people would have been curious, but Harry wasn't quite too sure how much he should tell them, it was clear anything muggle didn't fly at this table.

"I was put with relatives… I don't know who put me there, but they… they're muggles. I didn't know I was a Wizard until about a month ago." Harry said. He couldn't deny where he had been, it was all too obvious by his knowledge.

"Ugh, how unfortunate," Blaise said, shaking his head. "It's entirely unfair for any magical person to be raised by a muggle, but you, you defeated a Dark Lord, and you didn't even know you were a wizard? That's just cruel, whoever did that was clearly inhumane." Several others who were listening in nodded in agreement and Harry thought over his words, unable to find any sort of fault in them. Surely it would have been better for him to be raised in a Wizard family.

"I never got told the reason for being put with them… I just assumed because they're the only family I had left... That's what Hagrid told me at least." Harry said with a small shrug, Draco looked horrified.

"You mean to tell me, that oaf was the one in charge of getting you and assist you in getting your things?" Draco tutted. "He's not even a real wizard, and he's wrong you know." Harry looked to him in confusion. "The muggles aren't your only family, it's impossible. Your father was a pureblood, meaning you're related, at least distantly to a quarter of the people here, and if you had been raised the way purebloods were, you would have known that."

"We can teach you." Theodore offered. "Both of you." He added as Nathaira had bowed her head a little. "The Slytherin house may have a bad reputation, but we look after our own so we can be strong against the other houses."

"You're right Nott. Don't you worry Potter, Smith, we'll make right Snakes out of the both of you. Professor Snape won't have anyone messing up our record." A taller girl said, sitting beside the first years on the other side. "I'm Gemma Farley, one of the prefects for Slytherin."

The pair smiled at the two of them, as the night went on, Nathaira had started to speak to Daphne, Pansy and Millicent about balls and parties that happened in the Slytherin common room. Each promising to help her find dresses that would be appropriate, along with all sorts of potions that can be used for different beauty products. Nathaira made them laugh as she told them about the muggle counterparts, and how could muggles hurt themselves in an effort to just straighten their hair. "You mean they actually hold hot metal to their heads!? How barbaric." Millicent had said with a laugh.

The boys had begun to discuss Quidditch, Harry picked up slowly on the rules and positions and voiced his desire to fly, how many times he had wished he could have just flown away from the Dursleys, and he was excited to hear that they would indeed be given flying lessons. "Perhaps you can come to mine over Yule, Potter. Father promised to buy me the Nimbus Two thousand, the manor is secluded so we could fly as high as we want." Draco boasted with a grin. Harry grinned back at the idea of not having to see the Dursleys until the last possible moment as he nodded, although he couldn't commit just yet, it was nice to know so many people were willing to look out for him and offer this kind of friendship.

Dessert had proved that Harry was in heaven. Everything tasted so good, and he had never had this much access to food, that he worried he was going to make himself sick as he took smaller bites of his ice cream. "Gemma, who are all the teachers?" Harry asked as he scanned over the table.

"Well, the main teachers you have to be on the lookout for, Professor Sprout, the little witch sitting above the Hufflepuff table, she teaches Herbology, don't let her size fool you, she's tiny, but she wrestles with plants ten times her size and far more dangerous. Professor Flitwick is the man next to her, head of Ravenclaw and another show of power over stature, he's a duelling champion, he teaches Charms. McGonagall's head of Gryffindor, she's strict but fair, she never shows any favouritism and she teaches Transfiguration. Dumbledore is in the middle, brilliant mind, but he's far too soft, and favours his old house Gryffindor, not that it's helped them any, we've won the house cup several years now." Gemma smirked proudly as Harry nodded, trying to remember everything.

"Professor Quirrell is the one with the turban, he's new this year, fresh off travels in Albania, father says he hasn't been the same since he's returned, must have seen something really terrifying… Finally, the man in black is our head of house. Professor Snape, don't let him catch you getting up to any sort of mischief, he expects a lot from his house, but he lets us Slytherins do what we want in our own confines of the castle. Outside, we have to stick together, three houses against one are not good odds, and he'll have no hesitation to put your behind in detention for a month if you get caught retaliating."

By the end of her introduction, all the first year Slytherins were listening, the message was clear, retaliation was accepted, and even encouraged, when there could be no trace of any evidence that would lead it back to Slytherin. They stored this information away as Dumbledore rose again, bidding them all a good night as the houses made their way to their dorms.

Gemma and the other Slytherin prefect, a boy named Cyril led the young Slytherins down further into the castle, while it seemed the other houses were settled somewhere on the main floor or above. Despite moving deeper into the castle, where no windows were present, Harry didn't seem to feel any colder, instead, the warmth of the feast sat in his stomach, and he was ready for bed.

As they entered the dormitory, Harry was surprised to see how well lit it all was. A large fireplace took the middle of the far back wall. Slytherin's banner hung massively over the top, with two large windows either side filled up either side of the wall. Harry couldn't be certain, because it was too dark to see out of, that it wasn't sky on the outside of the windows, but water, they were underneath the lake.

Leather lounges were placed carefully around the room, along with several large tables and chairs, a few bookcases and single study nooks. The girls and boys said goodbye to each other and Harry and Nathaira looked to each other one last time for the day. They hadn't been able to talk to each other privately since before the sorting, but with any luck, they would be able to get around tomorrow and have some time then.

Following each of the prefects to opposite sides of the common room, they descended even lower, each year had their own floor with rooms and a shared bathroom. First years were at the very bottom of the staircase, with each year moving up with the commencement of another school year. As Cyril opened up their door, the boys entered the room slowly, looking around at the large four-poster beds, green silk curtains hung around each bed for privacy. The whole dormitory was coloured in the same shades of silver, green and back. Harry found the colours soothing, and he walked to his trunk, looking over his bed and everything else. It was so luxurious, he didn't know how to vocalise how amazing everything was.

After a quick, but glorious shower, Harry was pulling on his pyjamas, glad he had splurged a little in Diagon Alley and had bought some clothes for himself, the other boys all dressed in fine silks, something Petunia might have bought Dudley if he could wear them without ripping the seams within five minutes.

Settling down into bed, Harry laid awake as the rest of the boys fell to sleep. Crabbe and Goyle were snoring up a storm as Harry heard Draco muttering to himself. "... Swear when I learn how to use a silencing charm…" Harry grinned to himself in the dark as he pulled his curtains shut, snoring was the least of his problems as he fell asleep, ready to start his Wizard training with his new friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you've all enjoyed this chapter! I know it wasn't very exciting, but it's building to it, I promise! Next chapter we'll be having some classes, Harry is set to have his first meeting with Dumbledore who'll start to show his manipulative side… Thank you so much to everyone who followed and reviewed this story, and even a thank you to those who just read it! I hope you'll enjoy the story as it continues, this will be a long story, if I need to break the story up I will, but hopefully, everyone just enjoys what I'm doing! See you next time xxx


	3. Meeting with the Headmaster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Hello! I hope you enjoy this chapter, just a little peek into Dumbledore's paranoia, Quirrell's secret pet and Harry's best day. I'd like to thank everyone who has left a kudos and is following this story, seeing that people are enjoying really gives me a lot of reason to write and helps me think of each chapter. I know I've changed a lot of the class schedules, but it was for the sake of plot I promise! They way I've kept classes is if after breakfast they have three 45min class, lunch for an hour, and then another three classes, it would keep the day similar to other school times, factoring in free time in the afternoons and before/after dinner to do activities. A double class is an hour and a half.
> 
> Thank you once again for all of your support! Please keep leaving your kudos and comments, they really help me write my story, and I'd like to be able to finish this because I have a long-term plan in mind!

Harry had been one of the first to wake up the next morning. He had never really been excited to go to school, although it presented a couple of hours in which he didn't have to see Vernon or Petunia, it left him at the mercy of Dudley and his friends. His teachers had never really been much help, no matter the bruises he sported, or how frail he looked in clothes that were far too big on him, the teachers prefered to ignore him, his grades had been average, Harry too afraid to excel in anything, having been beaten once for receiving a higher mark on a test than Dudley.

Dressing himself, he made his way up the stairs to the common room. No one else was awake yet, and so he started to look around the room, browsing through the titles of the books that at neatly on the shelf. There seemed to be an array of different titles, all different subjects and for different skill levels. Harry was ready to learn, he wanted to know all he could, he wanted to prove that he belonged at Hogwarts and the Wizarding world.

"Harry?"

A soft voice made him turn as he looked to see Nathaira coming up from the girls' dormitory. Her curls bouncing as she came up the stairs, looking to him with a smile as she came over to him. "How did you sleep?" She asked.

Harry grinned. "Really good, actually. Aside from Crabbe and Goyle snoring, but there's a window right next to my bed, and I could hear the water so that was relaxing. How about you? How was it with the girls?"

"It was… tiring, but nice. I've never had any real friends before, we stayed up to look at everyone's clothes. I didn't really have much, but I didn't know there would be so many differences between muggles and witches. All the potions they use and the makeup, it's a lot to learn." Nathaira giggled softly. "It's weird, I thought I'd find you up here, I don't know what made me think it, but I was laying in bed and suddenly I knew you were up here, strange isn't it?"

Harry thought for a moment before nodding. "It is, but not as strange as what the sorting hat told me last night… It said I had a sister, and that we'd do well here. I said I didn't have a sister and it just chuckled in my head and said it wasn't a blood sister." Harry frowned.

"Well, maybe it just meant something else, they seem to have a lot of opinions on family and blood here." Nathaira reasoned. Harry nodded, thinking it over, something didn't seem right about it, but then, he couldn't deny Slytherins at least had a strong sense of family. "Maybe it just meant Slytherin as a family?" Nathaira offered.

"Yeah, makes sense." Harry said with a nod. They crossed to the table in front of a notice board, there laid envelopes for each person sorted by year. First and second years all had the same uniformed letters addressed to the year, while third years and up all had their own name on the envelope, clearly with a mixed schedule due to electives. Harry and Nathaira each took one with their year written on it, looking through their day. "We should get our things and then go to breakfast, I don't want to get lost on the way to class and be late." Harry reasoned as the two went back downstairs, packing their book-bag with the supplies they would need for the day.

Crabbe and Goyle were still snoring, but Harry could start to hear the other boys shifting and waking up behind their curtains. Not wanting to get stuck waiting, he gathered the last of his things as he made his way back up, Nathaira already waiting for him as they ducked out of the portrait together.

"And where might you two be heading?" A velvety voice said from behind them. Harry and Nathaira turned to see Professor Snape standing beside the portrait door. Dressed head to toe in black, he gave off the impression that he may have been a vampire, with his pale face and black eyes fixed on them, his greasy shoulder-length hair stayed to the side of his face.

"Breakfast, Sir." The pair said in unison.

Snape raised an eyebrow as his eyes roamed over Nathaira, and then to Harry, his eyes stopping for a moment on his forehead, then his body before resting on his eyes. Harry, uncomfortable in meeting someone in the eye, quickly looked down and subconsciously stepped back a little. Nathaira leaned in towards Harry, his shoulder just behind hers as he tried to straighten out again.

Severus watched the pair for a moment longer before he spoke. "The headmaster has requested to see the both of you in his office before breakfast. I have been instructed to bring you." He told them, watching as the two first years looked to each other in surprise and confusion. Without another word, he turned, walking forward as his clothes billowed out behind him. The pair watched for a moment before following behind, having to jog slightly to keep up with him as they made their way up to the third floor, a gargoyle standing guard as Severus eventually said; "lemon drop." He seemed to loathe the idea of speaking the words aloud in front of any witness, but the gargoyle moved to the side and Snape pointed for them to move in.

Harry stepped on the stairs first, followed by Nathaira and then Severus, the trio riding the staircase to the top where a large wooden door was open for them. They stepped through the doorway and the children looked around in amazement at all the moving pieces that sat in the office. Some made funny noises as they spun around, some emitted different coloured smoke. Portraits of witches and wizards lined the walls as Harry walked around the table. A cry came from the top of some more stairs as they made their way up, there, a large clawfoot desk sat with Dumbledore sitting behind it on a large golden chair. Beside him was a bird perch, a brilliant bird or red, orange and gold sat there, watching the approaching children before settling back down on its perch.

"Ah, Mr Potter, Miss Smith, thank you for coming, I know it is early, I hope you didn't have to wake up just for this but I thought it would be better to talk before your classes, started, please, sit down." Albus said with a warm smile as he pointed to the seats in front of him. "Severus, I'm sure you have a lot to prepare for the first day as well, perhaps you'd like to get on with preparing?"

Severus bristled. "I am well-prepared headmaster, I am happy to escort the children back to breakfast once you are finished with them, I am sure they wouldn't know their way back, having only been shown the dungeons last night."

Harry got the sense that whatever this meeting was about, it wasn't too normal for the Headmaster to summon first years on their very first day to his office. He turned and watched Dumbledore look to Snape for a moment before nodding, Snape stepped back to the corner, observing quietly. Harry turned back to look up at the headmaster, startled slightly by the intense gaze the headmaster was giving him. Time seemed to slow down for a moment before Nathaira coughed slightly, breaking Harry's concentration as he looked over to her.

"Is there something the matter, Sir?" Nathaira finally asked, breaking the silence of the room as Dumbledore sat back, there was still a smile on his face, but he had lost the twinkle in his eye.

"Not so much of a problem, no, just a couple of questions for the both of you… You see Miss Smith, for the most part, I know each child that gets sent a letter from Hogwarts. I get a list and I'm able to get a few bits of information on each student. For the most part, those who have grown up aware of their magical heritage are left in their parent's care, and for those who grew up in the muggle world, we send out our professors to let them know of their heritage and provide a guide to help families transition and support their child. In extreme cases, we have our professors collect children and help them shop for their items, as Professor Snape helped you."

Nathaira nodded, giving a quick glance to Professor Snape before looking back at Dumbledore. "I'm afraid I still don't understand why I'm here, Professor." Nathaira said, a little unsure as she frowned.

"My dear, the name of every child is added to our list the moment they're born. We know the names of everyone who will be attending eleven years before the owls are sent out with your letters, rarely, if ever does it change, however, your name only appeared within the last several months, and I find myself a little confused as to why." Dumbledore smiled at her, Harry thought he rather looked like Dudley when he was given a new toy, he didn't like the way he looked to her as though she was some great puzzle to sort out.

"I couldn't tell you, sir." Nathaira said with a small shrug, her face flushing a little in embarrassment, Harry frowned a little, thinking she must be feeling as though there had been a mistake, surely that is how he would have been feeling as well.

"I know you grew up in a foster home, but I must admit with your sorting I have trouble believing you are a muggle-born, although, stranger things have happened. I wonder if you would be agreeable in a heritage potion?" He asked, peering over his glasses. "If your family were indeed muggles, it won't show any relatives, however, if you were to come from a magical family, perhaps this would allow us to have a clearer understanding of your past. You may not know this, but around the time you were born, we were in the midsts of a magical war with an evil dark wizard, Voldemort."

Harry noticed in the corner of his eye, Professor Snape seemed to flinch at the name, however, Dumbledore continued on as though nothing had happened.

"Your parents may have hidden you away for safety, they may still be alive, perhaps even looking for you." Nathaira's eyes widened, she had never thought that her parents may have been looking for her, she had come to the understanding at a very young age she wasn't wanted, that she was a freak.

"I.. I would like that, thank you, Professor…" Nathaira said with a nod, and Dumbledore smiled back, the twinkle in his eye.

"Now, Mr Potter, I'm sure you'll be interested to know that I, with good reason, am able to put you into Gryffindor, along with Miss Smith, should you both want to get your things before class started -"

"Albus-" Snape said with wide eyes, stepping forward for the first time before he too was cut off.

"But Professor…" Both Nathaira and Harry jumped up as they looked to him with widened eyes.

"Sir, I'm very happy to stay in Slytherin." Harry said, Nathaira nodding along with Harry as she looked between Snape and Dumbledore. "I've made a lot of friends, and I would very much like to stay."

The old headmaster sat back, looking between the two of them before settling on Harry, a small crease in his forehead. "Harry, surely you'd want to stay where your family did, where your father did?" He asked. "And I thought being in the same house as the man who killed your family would be upsetting for you."

Harry swallowed softly as he looked at his feet. "I.. It doesn't bother me, Professor. I don't know much about my family, everything true that I've known about them I've only learned in the last few weeks, I don't even know much about this Dark Lord, only that he's gone now… I've made friends here, and I would like to stay, please sir." Harry said, though his tone was gentle and soft, there was little that could be said that would change his mind.

"Alright Harry, if that's how you feel, you may stay… You too Miss Smith, however, if you should have any problems, my door is always opened to you." Dumbledore said with a smile. Behind them, Snape cleared his throat.

"Excuse me Headmaster, but if Potter and Smith are to make the end of breakfast, they should best be going. I am sure they would not want to be late on their first day." Snape looked to the two of them, making sure that they understood that class was to come before breakfast if they didn't make it.

"Of course, Professor Snape. Off you go children, enjoy your first day!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. Harry and Nathaira stood, looking to Snape who nodded curtly, the two made their way out of the office, heading down the stairs towards breakfast.

* * *

As the children left, Severus came forward to the table in a swoop, robes billowing out behind him. "Are you mad? Albus… There has never been a house swap, ever… And the heritage potion would be illegal." He hissed, drawing back as he paced the room. "I thought you said you were going to keep the boy safe! He is too tiny, frail, he looks as though he's been beaten every day of his life!"

"Don't tell me you're attached to the boy." Dumbledore said with a smile, seeming to ignore everything else Severus had said.

"I know what abuse looks like Albus, I couldn't care whose child he was, but I know Petunia… I thought she might have cared, that she might have put aside her petty hate for her sisters' talent, and instead, they seemed to use the boy as a punching bag!" Severus snapped angrily. He was all too aware of what abuse looked like, both from his own past and from the duty of looking after children whose parents ideas of discipline was not guided by sane moralities.

"They have the wards on the house, it's better for him to stay there, besides, I had planned for him to befriend the Weasley boy, Molly was happy to have another child in the household over summer after Harry had been at the Dursleys enough to replenish the wards." Dumbledore said dismissively.

"One more person in that house will cause it to topple over." Severus sneered. "And what would changing their houses accomplish? It would have worsened the Slytherin reputation, Minerva and I have our hands full with enough childish 'house pride' wars than we can deal with."

"The girl Severus… Tell me again what she was like when you spoke to her, what was the house like?" Dumbledore asked him, leaving Severus to huff annoyed as he sat in a chair, his hand running through his hair, slick with protection slaves for the inevitable flames that came to each lesson from the hands of those inexperienced or too stupid to learn his chosen craft.

"They hadn't had her for long, she was moved from the last home when the family had to move." Severus repeated the story again. "They said she was quiet, spent most of her summer playing by herself, that schooling was rough on her with the moving around. She was picked on, they didn't know why. Her files show she was dropped off a week after the fall of the Dark Lord, she was young, only around one at the time, they thought it was a miracle she didn't die from the cold… I've told you all of this before Albus, nothing has changed." Severus said, his tone growing impatient.

"Everything has changed." Albus said, shaking his head as Severus frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"The girl, I tried to read her, see her past, find some answers…"

Severus stood, eyes wide as his mouth flew open in shock. "Don't tell me, Albus, that you tried to use legilimency on an eleven-year-old! Your paranoia of the Dark Lord returning is growing unfathomably Headmaster, and I cannot sit here while you turn every stone, or look into the minds of children, looking for something that isn't there-"

"She wasn't thinking in English, Severus." Albus interrupted, looking up at the man who had gone white as a sheet. "There was nothing, nothing, in English, or any other language I know… Her memories, everyone she's remembered, are speaking Parseltongue."

"There… There are others, from all around the world who have this… Talent." Snape argued quietly. "Maybe she was just born with it, the point is Albus, she is a little girl, not some Dark Lord in disguise."

"We don't know what she is, but her friendship with Mr Potter could prove to be a gain, or a great loss… I want you to monitor the both of them, for now. We will have to wait and see how schooling will unfold, I'm sure they'll both be isolated from the others due to Mr Potters past and the validity of Miss Smiths blood purity. They'll come back asking to change, in the meantime, I'll have some of the Gryffindor children attempt to make friends, hopefully, this will ease you and Minerva of your 'house wars', as you so eloquently put it, Severus." Dumbledore smiled.

Severus had been in his employ long enough to know a dismissal when one wasn't offered verbally. He walked out of the office, making his way through several passages to arrive in his office in the dungeons. He had been put off his breakfast enough.

* * *

Nathaira and Harry had gotten lost on their way to the Great Hall. They knew breakfast would end in another fifteen minutes, and they thought it would be better to get to class early than to quickly eat and then try to find their way to the classroom. They had Defence Against the Dark Arts first, and from Dumbledore's office, they didn't have a great deal of trouble walking up a floor until they got to the large classroom.

"What do you think this morning was all about?" Harry asked with a small frown as they came into the classroom. Everything was empty, and so they had chosen the seats in the front, pulling out their things as they got ready for the class, even Professor Quirrell hadn't shown up yet.

"I don't know… It was strange, I think even Professor Snape was surprised. It seems like this wasn't something that usually happens." Nathaira said, biting her lip as she looked at Harry. "I hope you didn't stay in Slytherin just because of me." She said softly, looking down. "I know you must have been curious about your dad and mum."

"Hey," Harry said softly, looking at her with a small frown. "I know I should probably want to know more about them, and I do… But I didn't know them, I know more about you than I do them, and I feel like just by being here I'm more connected to them, but they're dead, and… You're the first real friend I've ever had." Harry admitted with a blush.

Nathaira teared up a little as she smiled. "You're my first real friend to Harry…"

The pair sat in comfortable silence for a moment before the door at the top of the staircase in the right corner of the room opened. They both looked up, expecting to see their professor coming down, instead, a large, flat head poked out from between the staircase, looking down at the pair before hissing. " _Hatchlings, master._ "

" _Hello!_ " Nathaira hissed back cheerfully, Harry was sure if snakes could blink, this one would be doing it in surprise.

" _You… You speak my tongue hatchling_?" The snake asked.

" _Yes! Harry does too, don't you Harry?_ " Nathaira said, grinning as she looked at Harry as he nodded shyly.

" _You don't have many students talk to you?_ " Harry asked curiously as the snake shook her head.

Nathaira clearly wanted to chat more but the sound of many feet hitting the stone floor of the castle had the snake slip back inside. Harry and Nathaira looked to each other with a small frown as they were soon joined by Draco and the others. "Harry! Naithaira! We thought you had gotten lost! Where were you this morning?" Draco asked as Harry was about to answer, only to have the door above them open again and a pale, thinner looking Quirrell stepped out, his turban a brilliant purple against his black robes as he made his way down. Draco took a seat behind the pair, the Gryffindors sat to their right, the bushy-haired girl up the back, Ron and another boy, Neville, Harry remembered, sat in the back.

"G-g-good m-morning c-c-class!" The professor stammered through his greetings before attempting to give a quick overview of what his class was about, however, his stammer had been getting the best of him, and it took nearly half an hour to get through ten minutes of his planned speech. Luckily, their day was filled with doubles, and it went a lot faster when Quirrell just put his speech on the board, listing everything they were going to cover.

As the class copied the syllabus, Harry looked up at the desk, his eyes widening as he saw Quirrell looking directly at him. A sudden pain seared through his scar and he dropped his quill as his hand came up to his scar as it burned and prickled his skin.

"You 'right Harry?" Nathaira asked, looking to him in concern as he dropped his gaze, looking to Nathaira with a small nod as he resumed writing. It was strange, his scar had never felt like that before, it had always just been, there…

By the time they had finished writing everything out, the first forty-five minutes of the class was over, and Quirrell had them reading the first chapter of their book on the Curse of the Bogies, a rather horrible spell that Harry hoped never to be the recipient of. When they were dismissed, Harry glanced back at Quirrell, his face had gone quite stony as he watched the students leave, his eyes following Harry and Nathaira until the door closed shut behind them.

* * *

The rest of the day seemed to move in a blur. The Slytherins had their first potions lesson straight after, and thankfully Draco knew the way. They laughed on the way to the dungeons as Draco verbally fantasized his desire to use the Bogie curse on Weasley, the image sending them into loud laughter as they returned to the comfort of the dungeons.

Potions was shared with the Gryffindors again, and Harry was quite cheerful when he had earned his house five points for Slytherin when he answered Professor Snapes' questions correctly, looking to Nathaira thankful that they had read through their potions book on the train. To Harry's delight, potions was indeed just like cooking, there were ingredients and steps to follow, and his years of cooking and cleaning for the Dursleys came useful when Snape had them practising how to cut up slugs.

Lunch came soon after, followed by an introduction to Transfiguration and Herbology, by the end of the day, he was glad he had the chance to relax in the common room before getting ready for dinner. At the end of the day, despite the strange start, Harry felt as though his first day had been, absolutely, the best day of his life.


	4. Discovery and Attempted Betrayal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N: Hello everyone! I'm sorry about the wait, the plot died a little in my head, but after a lot of writing and then rewriting, I managed to get down something that I liked! I can't tell you how much all of the reviews and how many people have made this story a favourite means to me, and it really does help me to write when I know people want to read more, so please, keep them coming! Feed the plot in my brain!

September seemed to rush past, soon, it was coming towards Halloween, and Harry couldn't believe that he had spent nearly two months away from his old life, and had fully embraced his new life at Hogwarts. With daily meals, three times a day, and Crabbe and Goyle seeming to have an endless supply of snacks, Harry had begun to put on weight, slowly filling out the way he should have done, looking far more healthy than he had ever looked in his life. Draco had helped Harry tame his hair, now it sat a little more tidy, allowing him to show off his brilliant emerald eyes better, along with his sharp cheekbones, once he had some meat on his face that stopped him from looking so sickly.

Nathaira often teased Draco and Harry for spending more time on their looks than homework, but Harry had surprised Nathaira with different sets of clothes, once Draco had shown Harry how to order from a catalogue. Harry had hoped some new clothes would help Nathaira relax a little more; he had noticed she wasn't as close to the girls as they all seemed to be of each other. Of course, her family had come up in discussion more than once, and the fact she had grown up basically as a muggle. Harry had the advantages of having money, and a reputable name, even if it used to belong to Gryffindor. He didn't mind sharing his money with her, and now that he had more than he could have ever of wanted, he thought the nicest thing to do would be to get whatever he and Nathaira wanted.

"Hey, I thought you might have been wearing that green dress, you won't get much use out of it once winter really sets in," Harry said to Nathaira one Saturday as they were walking around the castle together. Draco, Crabbe and Goyle had detention that afternoon; they had been caught trying to throw dungbombs into the Gryffindor common room whenever someone came out. Nathaira smiled, although it looked a little uncomfortable, she pushed her hands into her jean pockets, her chin pushing down into the black turtleneck sweater she was wearing.

"It's lovely Harry, it really is… I just, I can't wear it right now." She said softly, looking down to the floor as she chewed on her lip, kicking her feet out in front of her.

"I didn't mean to upset you," Harry said, his hand coming out to her shoulder, but she flinched away quickly.

"No no... You didn't, I'm sorry." She mumbled, looking around with a sigh before pulling Harry into an empty classroom. "I… There's something wrong with me Harry. I don't know what it is, but I've just always been like it, and whenever someone finds out… I'm like a freak." She whispered, looking up at Harry with watery eyes.

Harry looked to her in concern, he didn't know what she was talking about, she looked healthy to him, and she never seemed sick. "I don't understand, what's wrong?" He asked.

Nathaira chewed her lip, pulling her hair up into a hair tie, something Harry had never seen her do before. "I… It's not contagious, I promise, please, don't tell anyone." She whispered fearfully as she turned her back to him, slowly lifting the back of her sweater so that Harry could see her bare back.

As Harry's eyes began to slowly understand what they were seeing, Harry couldn't help but drop his jaw. There, down the middle of her spine, hundreds of tiny scales glittered down her back. There were greens, blacks and specks of silver all flowing down her back, slowly blending into the skin, it was hard to tell where it truly ended. There were a few patterns, most of her shoulders were covered before thinning down as it reached the base of her spine. After a moment, she pulled her shirt down, looking at Harry with a blush, looking away, ashamed.

"What are they?" Harry asked.

"It's what you think… Scales. I've had them since I was born, although they weren't coloured then. They were clear, and I was taken to every Doctor and specialist, they could never figure out how I got them, and where they came from." Nathaira said, sitting down as she rested her head on her hands. "They shed every now and again, and sometimes the kids in school would hold me down and try to pull them out." Her voice was bitter and angry.

Harry hesitated for a moment, coming to her side as he put his hand underneath her sweater, running a few fingers over the scales as Nathaira shuddered and let out a small hiss, clenching automatically, afraid. The scales were soft and smooth, not rough or slimy. They were as warm as her skin, and Harry pulled his hand out and met Nathaira's eyes. "It's beautiful… You're beautiful." He said firmly. Her eyes widened as she looked at Harry, leaning up as she kissed his cheeks quickly. "What was that for?" He asked, a little stunned.

"You're just… I can't believe you're you, Harry Potter." She said with a smile, blushing softly.

Their little moment was soon interrupted when Harry felt a heavy weight at the bottom of his new pants. Looking down, he nearly fell back in surprise when he saw a snake, almost twice his size, smoothly making its way up his legs. " _Hello, little hatchlings_." The snake hissed, Harry thought it was distinctly female, although the thought left him quickly as his hands had now become pinned to his side.

" _Hello_." Nathaira hisses with a small smile, watching on in amusement, she was smaller than Harry and didn't fancy her chances at being able to hold up the weight of the snake any more than he could.

" _Hi… I'm sorry, I don't want to be rude, but you're really heavy._ " Harry wheezed as the snake made its way up his chest. Nathaira came over, letting the snake rest its head around her shoulders as she wound them together, her head coming out in front of them as she looked to the both of them.

" _I am sorry little hatchling, my master is strong, and I thought your kind would be like that. Are you comfortable now?_ " She asked as she hung off the two of them, moving onto the desk where she curled up tightly, raising her head high to look at the both of them as they nodded.

" _What's your name?_ " Nathaira asked with a smile. The snake was very pretty. She too had scales of green, black and a little silver. The greens blended together in several tones, her eyes a deep red, Harry thought she was the prettiest snake he had ever seen.

" _Nagini, hatchling, you may call me Nagini._ "

Though snakes couldn't smile, they were sure they could hear the smile in her voice, she seemed friendly enough, but Harry hadn't talked to many snakes before. " _You said your master could carry you, are you Professor Quirrell's pet?_ " Harry asked. Of course, they had first seen her out the front of Quirrell's office, but Harry was willing to bet that even Quirrell would struggle under Nagini's weight.

" _I am not a pet; I am a familiar. There's a difference, hatchling. I have formed a strong bond with my master. He cares for me and I him; there is no stronger bond between wizard and creature._ " Nagini hissed, though she seemed offended, it had vanished from her voice by the end, but Harry noticed she hadn't answered his question completely.

" _How come we haven't seen you since our first lesson?_ " Nathaira asked curiously, they had only seen her their very first day, and Quirrell never mentioned that he had a familiar, Nathaira thought it would have been discussed talked about in their classes.

Nagini slithered down onto the seat in front of the table before lowering herself to the ground. " _I was told I was not allowed, only tasty birds, cats and toads were allowed to be brought into the castle, I am here in secret, and I would like it to stay that way little Hatchlings, will you keep my secret?_ "

Harry and Nathaira looked at each other, Harry mouthed the word 'Trevor' to Nathaira, and her eyes widened. Poor Neville Longbottom hadn't seen his toad for weeks. " _We'll keep your secret if your master has to take care of you and the other way around, we won't tell,_ " Harry said with a nod, looking to Nathaira who nodded along with a smile.

"Thank you." Nagini hissed, pushing her head against Harry's leg and then Nathaira's before slithering past the two of them. " _Come and see me soon Hatchlings, my master looks forward to meeting both of you._ " She hissed as she made her way out of the door.

* * *

 

Harry wasn't sure what had changed over the last week of October. Ever since he had started their DADA classes, he had always seemed to leave with a splitting headache, his scar had felt like it was on fire, and it often led him to the Hospital Wing, having to take some potions to help with the pain. Madam Pomfrey was unfortunately at a loss for what to do; cursed scars were not something she usually looked after, and could only offer him a pain reliever. However,  as of last week, he had begun to notice that he was no longer in pain, although his scar still sometimes prickled, it was no longer a shooting pain.

Halloween came on a Thursday night, classes had ended a little early in preparation for the feast and party that would later take place. The Slytherins would attend the feast like everyone else, but Harry and Nathaira had been informed that the seventh years put on a party each year for the forms below. Instead of the traditional muggle Halloween the pair had known about, Wizarding Halloween had deeper meaning, where magical barriers were at their most thinnest, rituals and magic cast on Halloween were often amplified, and it was always strongly cautioned to the students about what spells they cast, and what potions they made on this day.

Their last class for the day had been Defence Against the Dark Arts. Draco had been chattering on for almost half the day now, telling Harry and Nathaira about the party the pair of them would be attending, and how his parents had often held a party each Halloween. Although the children had never actually attended, Draco boasted of his overheard conversations, although Harry didn't miss the fact that he never told them anything he had supposedly overheard, but it was enough to get impressed looks from Crabbe and Goyle, not to mention Pansy fanning his ego as she boasted how amazing he was.

The hourglass to the side of the room was slowly draining, signalling the end of the class as everyone made a move to collect their things. "P-p-Potter, S-s-Smith, if you c-could stay behind, p-please." Quirrell suddenly called out. Harry and Nathaira looked to each other in confusion, silently wondering what it was he could have wanted. They had done their homework on time and made sure their essay on Hags weren't too similar.

Draco and the others had already packed and left, caught up in their early finish for the day, and the party they were to attend later. They looked to Quirrell with small frowns as he remained silent, watching as the last student left before he waved a hand and the door closed behind them. "If you would follow me, please," Quirrell said suddenly, standing as he led them behind his desk, and up to the winding stairs that led to his private office.

Harry looked to Nathaira who looked on to Quirrell's retreating back, something didn't add up, his scar pricking uncomfortably, a small heat that seemed to spark the feeling thrummed behind. Silently they followed, an uneasy pit falling in Harry's stomach as they came up to the office, the door held open by Quirrell as he nodded for them to move in.

His office was dark and smelled strongly of several herbs. Different size and coloured candles sat under dishes that smoked and sent coloured vapours into the darkness, twisting slowly before vanishing. Cushions lined the floor, covering patterned rugs that managed to peek out on occasion. Books filled shelves messily, with no clear ordering, the classroom had felt cold in comparison to the warm room, and both Harry and Nathaira suddenly felt very drowsy, comfortable, the two staggering forward to sit in front of the desk, blinking heavily as Quirrell sat in front of them.

"Little hatchlings, so tired, so warm, sleep hatchlings, I will watch you…" A familiar hiss whispered. Nagini slowly slithered from a heated pillow in the corner of the room, wrapping herself around the chair as she made her way over their laps, the weight of her body adding another comfort to the children. They struggled to keep their eyes open, any protest of questions they might have had were snuffed out before it could even form in their mind as they were suddenly passed out.

"Master, are you sure about this?" Quirrell asked once he knew the children were asleep. He gritt his teeth painfully as he felt a shooting pain in his head. He knew what it meant, standing as he lifted Harry up easily, putting him on the floor, pillows surrounding him comfortably before he placed Nathaira beside him. Sitting down, he breathed out slowly before a rush of energy pushed out from him, suddenly, his anxiety was gone, his pain and fears, all of it, gone. He saw the world more clearly than he had in months. It lasted all of a few moments before new fear returned, he quickly stood, eyes wide as he made a bolt for the door, only to hear a frightfully loud hiss come from behind.

Nagini had made her way from the chair, coming up silently before Quirrell, she began to coil herself around a few times before lifting her head from the ground, raising a good five feet in the air as she stared down the man who had attempted to run. He knew she wouldn't hesitate in killing him, now that her Master had left his body, and yet, he knew this was a part of the plan, and he had work to fulfil.


End file.
